San Diego Film Festival 2015 takes over downtown

It’s hard to believe another year has gone by as the San Diego Film Festival comes to downtown San Diego from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4.

The opening night, Variety presents Night of the Stars as the SDFF honors Adrien Brody with the Cinema Vanguard Award, Geena Davis with the Reframed Humanitarian Award, Brit Marling with the Auteur Award, John Boyega with the Rising Star Award and the Chris Brinker Award that is given the night of the Tribute. All of this talent will be at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla.

Downtown, the opening night film is “Septembers of Shiraz” starring Adrien Brody and Selma Hayek along with Sholweh Aghdashloo in 1979 Iran during the Revolution. Brody is Isaac Armin, a jeweler who is suddenly arrested of spying for Israel. Hayek as Amin’s wife is doing what she must to keep the family together.

There is also the Gala Premiere of the film “Go With Me” starring Julia Stiles, Alexander Ludwig and Anthony Hopkins. Stiles plays Lillian, a young woman who returns home only to be harassed by Blackway, an ex-cop who now runs the town.

Another film having its Gala Premiere is “He Named Me Malala” which is the story of Malala Yousafzal, the young girl wounded by Taliban soldiers in Pakistan. After recovering she fights for girls to have education on a global basis. Documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim gives us a wider view of Malala’s life leading to her Nobel Peace Prize.

For families there will be a Special Screening of the film “Goosebumps” from the bestselling books by R.L. Stine. Jack Black leads a cast including Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush, Amy Ryan, Ryan Lee and Jillian Bell.

The San Diego Film Festival brings the most amazing documentaries including
“Bonobos: Back to the Wild,” “The Rocky Mountains Traverse,” “Tomgirl” and “Stories Streets,” to name a few.

Foreign Films also make their showing with Seashore, SuperBob and The Ambassador to Bern. There are also comedies with Moments of Clarity and Well Wishes for those that need a good laugh in their film watching.

The Special Event for the SDFF is the Culinary Cinema of two films and two tastings! KING GEORGES and COOKING UP A TRIBUTE celebrate Chefs who create the foods we all love to look at and even more want to eat.

The SDFF also brings SOCIAL JUSTICE – Reframing the Conversation brings an award to the documentary that puts a big light on injustices and human rights issues. The panelists include Kweku Mandela from Out of Africa Films, Jack Robbins from Storied Streets, Thomas Morgan from Waiting for Mamu, Dawn Porter from Gideon’s Army, Leslee Udwin from India’s Daughter and the Moderator is Trevor Hall, President and CEO of Creative Visions.

There is so much to see and experience at the San Diego Film Festival and the wonderful part of attending is that there is something for everyone. These five days bring films to fans and a chance for filmmakers and actors to experience their work with all of us.

To view the films, events and celebrities that will be at this year’s San Diego Film Festival please visit www.sdfilmfest.com where you can also purchase tickets!

U.S. Marines assigned to 3rd Marine Division deployed to the Indo-Asia region send messages back home to loved ones for Valentines Day. If you know anyone who is currently deployed from 3rd Marine Division, listen in and you might have someone giving a message to you.

171216-M-DI829-1001 ARABIAN GULF (Dec. 16, 2017) Lightning strikes near the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) as it transits the Arabian Gulf. Theodore Roosevelt and its carrier strike group are deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of maritime security operations to reassure allies and partners and preserve the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce in the region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by 1st Lt. Mark Vetere/Released)